In 2018 I listened to around 80 film scores and ranked my favorites (as well as a few honorable mentions that straddled the top-10 but didn’t quite make the cut). Many of these have appeared on other year-end lists, but there are a few bolder/more obscure choices like Arcadia to give a bit of extra flavor.
- Mandy by Jóhann Jóhannsson
- If Beale Street Could Talk by Nicholas Britell
- Suspiria by Thom Yorke
- Happy New Year, Colin Burstead by Clint Mansell
- Eighth Grade by Anna Meredith
- Annihilation by Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury
- The Old Man and the Gun by Daniel Hart
- First Man by Justin Hurwitz
- Hereditary by Colin Stetson (Interview)
- Arcadia by Adrian Utley and Will Gregory
Honorable Mentions: Hagazussa (MMMD); You Were Never Really Here (Jonny Greenwood); Blackkklansman (Terence Blanchard); Mary Queen of Scots (Max Richter); First Reformed (Lustmord); and The Death of Stalin (Christopher Willis) (Interview).